Sport down the years
SPORT has always been convered in the NWN down the years. We look at some of the unforgettable moments from 10 years ago.
December 1 2011
Race of the Year
AROUND 18,000 racing fans flocked through the turnstiles on Newbury Racecourse’s big day on Saturday.
The Hennessy Gold Cup drew some famous faces, too, with the Princess Royal in attendance plus singer Cilla Black, actress Dame Judi Dench, comedienne Ruby Wax and former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, who attended with her husband Charlie, the former trainer.
People from all walks of life packed the stands while others preferred to get closer to the action and cheer on their favourites from the railings.
One, 32-year-old Eoghan Goddard, from Drogheda, in County Louth, Ireland, said: “A group of us come over for this each year.
“It’s the jewel in the crown of the racing year.”
He added that he was delighted to have had a chat with top Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson, who was among the throng.
The sense of history at the 55-yearold event was added to when the big, £150,000 race was won by Carruthers, trained in Wantage by Mark Bradstock and part-owned and bred by Lord Oaksey – who won the race back in 1958 on Taxidermist.
Lord Oaksey also heads the coownership the Oaksey Partnership and is father-in-law to trainer Mark.
Afterwards winning jockey Mattie Batchelor said: “Coming to the second last I thought I have got to wing this to win and he didn’t let me down. He is a brilliant horse. “Last year was wrong but this year he has come back better. He is in the form of his life. I love him.”
Unsung hero
ALDERMASTON Rugby Club youth coach Phil Donoghue is on the shortlist to join sport’s biggest stars at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards later this month.
He is in the last three for the
BBC South region’s Unsung Hero Award 2011, the winner of which will be judged along with the other regional nominees with the final decision sending the ‘unsung hero’ to the main BBC awards in Salford on December 22.
The junior club chairman at Aldermaston has been coaching eight to 18-year-olds for a number of years and also coaches the club’s under-16 and -17 teams while acting as child protection officer, RFU and Berkshire county representative and a schools and community coach.
That has seen him conduct sessions at schools from Hermitage, Cold Ash and Welford to Pangbourne, and he finds time to assist with youth coaching at neighbouring Tadley RFC while also being engaged in identifying potential referees within the county.